War of the Kolossaio
by XxAskingAlexandriaxX
Summary: Thalia is a regular lioness cub living in IceClan-one of the 10 clans of big cats living in Ancient Greece. She can't wait to become an apprentice, to train for battles with her mentor, then become a Soldier. But what happens when an unexpected war changes her whole future?


**Chapter 1**

Thalia raised her small, tawny-furred head, blinking sleep away from her dark amber eyes.

"Nyx, wake up!" Thalia prodded her smaller, brown-furred sister awake. Nyx let out a cub-growl and pawed at the air, eyes still closed. "Nyx!" Thalia snapped.

"Thalia, leave your sister alone."

Thalia turned her head, surprised to see Amynta awake. "Yes, Mother," Thalia grumbled. Thalia could feel Amynta's piercing green gaze on her as Thalia walked out of the den. Thalia turned her head once, to get permission from the rather-small lioness. Amynta nodded.

Thalia stepped out of her family's den and into the bright sunlight pouring down into the IceClan's camp. Already, big cats of all kinds were pacing around camp, some leaving for patrols and some apprentices wrestling each other on the dusty ground.

"Hey look, it's Thalia!" A female leopard apprentice pointed out, poking her brother in the shoulder.

"Morning, Olympia and Alypius," Thalia yawned.

"You never sleep in that late!" Olympia exclaimed, shaking out her beautifully spotted coat.

"The Soldiers are about to take all the apprentices out for a battle, want to come?" Alypius grinned.

"Stop teasing, Thalia!" Olympia growled at her brother. "You know she's not an apprentice yet."

"I will be someday!" Thalia meowed, leaping to her paws. "Then you two better watch yourselves, because I'll become the best Soldier in all the Clans!"

Then a chuckle came from behind Thalia, causing her to jump. A large male panther crept from the shadows of a bramble bush, pausing beside Thalia. He made the lioness cub seem like an ant being compared to an elephant.

Olympia let out a growl of distrust. "What do you want, Hyakinthos?"

Alypius snapped at the air, long claws in the dirt. "Nobody wants you here."

Thalia shrunk to the ground, in the shadow of the panther.

"Just listening to your conversations," Hyakinthos said coolly. "Got a problem with that?" He gave a sly grin to Olympia. Olympia's shoulder muscles rippled, and Thalia admired the leopard's strength as she prepared to attack the larger cat.

"Stop, Olympia!" Alypius snapped, stepping between the two. "This isn't a battle worth fighting for, you know Archon won't like his apprentice-soldiers to be fighting amongst themselves." He turned to Hyakinthos. "Now, you scurry along, or I'll have Eurystheus sort you out."

Hyakinthos gave a soft growl of disapproval, but turned tail and padded away.

"Wow!" Thalia meowed. "That took courage."

Alypius shrugged. "Not really," He said. "Hyakinthos seems tough and scary, but he's not. Once you get to know him, that is."

Olympia got up, her long tail brushing the ground. "Want us to show you the two FireClan apprentices the Soldiers caught last night?" Excitement brightened Olympia's pale-green eyes.

"They captured others?" Thalia met Olypmia's green gaze with her amber. "Cool!"

"Come on!" Olympia meowed, beckoning to Thalia with her tail. "I'll see you later, Alypius!" She called to her brother over her shoulder.

Thalia struggled to keep up on her small legs, especially since the IceClan camp was posted on a slope. Every so often it would snow, more so than the other 9 clans. That made it much harder to trudge through the large camp.

Olympia led Thalia through the maze of dens and even past Chilon's forge, where the Soldier's armor and weapons were made. Thalia swallowed back coughs as they passed through the smoke of the burning embers. Through narrowed eyes, Thalia caught a glimpse of two forgers, one was a small Ocelot, the other was a Cougar.

"How much further?" Thalia asked. "My paws are starting to ache."

"Not much. Just up this cliff," Olympia replied. She led Thalia up a steep slope, where the rest of camp lay. Not much was interesting up here, except for Archon's den, the Healers' den, and a few Soldiers. "And…Right over here," Olympia said, stopping near a large gorse bush backed up to the stone walls enclosing the camp all the way around.

Thalia nosed her way through the bush behind Olympia, and came face-to-face with two small, whimpering cheetah apprentices.

"Where are they from?" Thalia asked, glaring at the rivals with amber eyes screwed up in disgust.

"AirClan," Olympia spat. "You know how they are. AirClan ignores their borders, isn't that right?" She shot a look at one of the cheetahs.

He leaped to his paws, neck fur bristling. "We do not!"

"Then why were you two caught in our territory then, huh?" Olympia challenged.

"Olympia!" A voice called.

"Uh oh! That's Aristion, better run!" Olympia meowed. She shot out from under the bush, leaving Thalia with the cheetahs.

The male cheetah snarled, revealing rather sharp teeth for a younger apprentice.

"Later." Thalia backed out of the bush quickly, bumping into Aristion and Olympia. The larger jaguar soldier was scolding Olympia, allowing Thalia to sneak away unnoticed.

She hared down the slope, dust flying in her wake as her claws tore up the ground. Thalia was stopped midway as she spotted her sister climbing up the slope.

"You're awake finally!" Thalia purred. "I tried waking you earlier, but you tried attacking me."

Nyx rolled her yellow eyes playfully. "Sure I did!" She scanned the camp below the high-set cliff. "Have you seen Thymos?"

"Thymos?" Thalia shook her head. "No, why?"

Thymos was the sisters' father. A large, powerful dark-furred lion with a black mane and piercing yellow eyes. He didn't have a very good reputation within IceClan, but Thalia knew Thymos would put himself in harm's way for his family.

"He's at the Maches," A gruff voice said behind the two cubs.

"Ariphron!" Nyx squealed, hurling herself at the large tiger. Thalia stayed behind rather, shuffling her paws in an awkward moment. Nyx and Ariphron have been close ever since she was less than a moon old, when a member of FireClan stole Nyx while she wasn't being monitored. Ariphron risked his life and rescued her.

As far as Thalia's father being at the Maches, she was concerned. The Maches was the battle that took place at the Kolossaio, a large ancient structure used for the fights that took place every moon. Only Soldiers were allowed to go, and the Clan leaders would normally choose twenty Soldiers from his clan. Then, once at the Kolossaio, the Igetis—leader of the fights—would then call out eight Soldiers from four clans, and they would then fight—but not to the death. The winner normally would receive a great piece of armor—carved by the professional forgers that lived at the Kolossaio, as well as a helmet and battle claws.

Thalia left Nyx and Ariphron to spend time, and walked away. Then the loud, commanding roar of Archon left Thalia to watch as at least fourteen apprentices and Soldiers gathered near the entrance of camp and left.

_Someday, that will be me,_ Thalia thought with pride. _Training for battles at the Kolossaio, becoming the best Soldier in IceClan!_


End file.
